A decent little who dun what, totally ruined by David Case's narration. Case is one of the worst audio book readers I've ever been subjected to. His bored, affected (fake?) uppah-clahhhsss drawl saps any excitement out of what is meant to be a thrillerish detective yarn, and his character voices don't work. The trainer speaks with a (sort of) Swedish accent until we are told that he actually spoke English with an Irish intonation; he is then Irish for about three sentences, after which his accent just gets weird. The British minerologist is meant to be from the southeast of England and yet he too spouts cod-Swedish with a rather unsuccessful overlay of...Welsh? Maybe? I read online that Mr Case was inducted into some sort of audiobook narrator's hall of fame...well, one wonders. I had started to listen to this months ago and gave up in Chapter One. The book improves upon acquaintance; the reader, sadly, does not. He sounds sick of the whole thing, like a grumpy 50ish Old Etonian who is being forced to tell someone a story and just wishes they would go away.

As for the book itself, it was okay, though I've run across the trope of a woman having an undetectable orgasm on the dance floor before and it didn't work then either. Whoever believes that one has never actually been with a woman who was having one. The baddies were predictable from Chapter 1. True, I read a lot of detective fiction, so perhaps I'm more aware than most, but I don't actually think so in this case. I do think it would be a lot more enjoyable in print than suffering through this particular reader's poor narration.

I buy all Dick Francis books I find in thrift stores (because my book habit is healthier than a drug habit, but can be just as expensive if I spend time in Borders), but I didn't quite expect what I got with Slay Ride. First, it's one of his oldest works (1973), and there are a couple of dating elements in the plot that make the story feel a little old. Second, the story just STARTS, and the reader is left to keep up, which is annoying as there are quite a few unfamiliar elements to deal with (the story takes place in Norway, for heaven's sake!). I didn't figure out what the main mystery was until after the main character had been rescued from a boat wreck about twenty pages into the book.
The characters aren't up to the Dick Francis standard, either. They feel undeveloped, and the most vivid ones - the women - are ancillary to the plot, so they don't appear very often.
All in all, this isn't the best Francis ever (that's To the Hilt), but it's readable.

An enjoyable adventure. David Cleveland, Jockey Club investigator, is in Norway after the disappearance of British jockey David Sherman. The action is immediate as David almost drowns in Norway's fjords in the first chapter. I love these early, tightly-plotted stories where all the action happens in 200 pages, instead of a 200-page setup merely hinting at something eventful to come.

A fun, quick read that combined horse racing, corporate espionage and the disappearance of a horse jockey into a fast-paced read. For some reason, Slay Ride was different from the other Dick Francis novels I've read, it felt a bit more cynical and bleak. I found all the characters interesting (especially obsessive, paranoid Arne), the plot entertaining and the conclusion to be satisfying.

Early Francis and his style hadn't settled down yet: the women are even more marginal than usual, the reason to keep reading is thin, and the reveal was barely suspenseful at all.

Similar to Flying Finish, I find the ending is unsatisfying. It ends too abruptly and you don't feel that outstanding subplots were wrapped up.
The bulk of the story is fantastic, the characters are well developed and I love Norway, so the setting is perfect.

My first Dick Francis read. Not bad but not spectacular either. Quite well written but overall an underwhelming experience.

Another well written book, a great plot that grabs your attention and keeps it. Francis' characters are always complex with some clear lines between good and evil, but he always has a character or two that is in the gray area of good or evil and plays on that until the conclusion of the book when it becomes clear which side of the fence the character is on. I always enjoy his books.

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A Clever P!ot

Dick Francis as usual weaves an interesting plot that includes horse racing, murder and suspense as well as good characters.

I really like the titles

Frozen intrigue in Norway. Sometimes the people you trust you shouldn’t. Sometimes behaviors learned to survive turn out t be ruthless later on.

Another great Dick Francis's book. And I thought I have read all his books. So happy to come across one which I have not read.